THE race of the week for me was the bumper on Tuesday at Down Royal which was won in emphatic style by the Lorna Fowler-trained Lady Heath. This provided a first racecourse winner for her jockey Timmy Love, a neighbour of the Fowlers, a spotter at Goffs for the last few years and son of two of our closest friends Mickey and Sarah.

As it happens, Timmy was born nine months after our wedding, an event at which Mickey made quite an impression. The wedding took place at Alice’s home in Nottinghamshire where her father has a well-established herd of English Longhorn cattle. He had carefully assembled the best of these to be in full view of the guests while they enjoyed drinks on the lawn.

Farmer

A Dublin friend, knowing Mickey to be highly accomplished farmer, asked what breed they might be. Unfortunately for Mickey, he is mainly into tillage, so was caught slightly off-guard. Nevertheless he made a guess, albeit incorrect, and this was overheard by one of the men who worked on the farm. After being brought up to speed, Mickey was then asked what he did in Ireland. Desperate not to give the impression that Irish farmers might be in any way knowledge deficient, he decided to immediately re-invent himself and, for reasons that he could never subsequently explain, replied, “I am a plumber.”

Lavatories

This was all very well until, several hours later, the rented lavatories appeared to be facing some potentially unpleasant challenges. My new father-in-law’s concern at this news was nothing compared to his surprise when one of his own team said: “Don’t worry boss, all you need to do is find that Mickey chap – he’ll know what to do.”

Fortunately for us all, the threatened lavatorial calamity never happened, but we still laugh about “Love the plumber” more than 20 years later.

The next time that they race at Down Royal, it will no longer be located in the EU and, at some point between the writing and the reading of this column, Brexit will finally have happened. It is extraordinary to think that the referendum vote took place back in June 2016. To give some context, this was just a week after the third season Coolmore stallions Churchill and Caravaggio had won as two-year-olds at Royal Ascot.

Having saturated the media for four years, Brexit has been slightly demoted in recent weeks by the rather underwhelming excitement of our own general election. Nevertheless, the antics of the frightful Farage on Wednesday in Brussels could drive the most mild-mannered souls into extreme politics.

Brexit

Brexit will now move into the “I told you so” phase when everybody will almost certainly produce evidence to support their opinions and positions throughout. Let’s hope that there is truth in the old expression about it being worse waiting to take a hiding than it is to get one.

Even among staunch Remain voters in the UK, many became keen to see the process concluded.

The equivalent, I suppose, to when Alice accepts an invitation for us that I would rather she had not but, when the time comes to attend, it is always me asking her to hurry up and get ready to go.

The consequences of Brexit will become clear in time, but I suspect the fledgling stud careers of Churchill and Caravaggio will be easier to measure a great deal sooner.

LAST Saturday night saw a marvellous evening, and a late night for many at the ITBA annual awards in the Heritage Hotel at Killenard, Co Laois. The occasion is well covered elsewhere in this publication (pages 28-31) but the evening was a credit to the organisers, and acknowledged the achievements of many.

Outstanding

Mags O’Toole’s Wild Geese Award, as an outstanding representative of Ireland, could not have been more deserved, or more warmly greeted. Thirty years ago, after leaving school, Alice got a job as a dogsbody for bloodstock agent Alex Scrope, with whom Mags was working.

Mags O’Toole receiving her Wild Geese Award at the ITBA dinner \ Photo.carolinenorris.ie

During one visit to Kentucky, Alice and Mags ended up sharing a hotel bed, and I very much hope that she is the only bloodstock agent operating today who can make that particular claim.

Mags is not only one of the most admired judges of horses but also seems to be an honorary member of many different families. We always stay in the same hotel in Doncaster so have had many evenings together, and her range of interests, and powers of observation, make her a most entertaining companion. This award is an inspirational addition to the evening, and it was a real pleasure to see Mags “goosed” last week.

Philip Myerscough was my boss for many years at Goffs, and he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution as breeder, stallion master, racehorse owner and auctioneer. By its very nature, this is awarded to somebody on the back nine of a distinguished career but there is no doubt that Philip looks younger than he did 20 years ago.

I was among those recorded to speak about Philip’s achievements, though I failed to mention that perhaps the most unique of them is getting hired not once, but twice over, by both Goffs and Tattersalls.

MARK Johnston holds the record for training the most winners in Britain. I would also imagine that his choice of uniform for his stable staff must make him the record buyer of tartan waistcoats south of the Scottish border.

I always enjoy his own magazine, the Kingsley Klarion, where, as you would expect from a man who bought 60 yearlings himself last autumn, his January issue made some measured observations about the recent BHA Review of the Buying and Selling Practices of Bloodstock and Racehorses.

Mark Johnston \ Laura Green

Mark commented on the repetitive nature of the report and its limited understanding of how reserves work. In support of the auction process, he wrote: “I prefer to buy at auction and think I am far more likely to get value in the auction ring than through private sales, and I know that many of my customers all enjoy the drama of the sales. Some love to pit their wits against other buyers, the vendors, and even the agents. Buying at auction is, for many, including me, one of the highlights of the whole racing experience and I think that might apply to some of the biggest contributors to British racing.”

Malpractice

Flushing out malpractice is an admirable aspiration for any regulator but this report has provoked some ill-informed commentary from third parties about the auction process, in particular with regard to reserves and “bidding-up”.

At any art, livestock or property auction, vendors have the right to set a reserve price. It is also my own opinion that sellers are entitled to a degree of anonymity, though this may no longer be the case in bloodstock auctions.

I wonder if the great art auction houses will deny this right to high-end vendors experiencing what used to be delicately referred to as “financial embarrassment”, or indeed if local auction houses will have to name somebody quietly offloading an unwanted wedding present.

At France’s leading bloodstock auction there are no reserves, so vendors must keep bidding themselves if they are not satisfied with either the price or the prospective buyer. Ironic, then, that too much scaremongering in the UK might actually drive those that they wish to protect from a process some see as a frying pan into one that they must therefore see as a fire.